Well I /We have reached two Milestones today in that this is my 4000th Post on the Forum since I joined on the 2nd of February 2013. I had a month away from the Forum in November /December 2015 having a total of 1970 posts but rejoined 27th December 2015, bringing the total to the aforementioned 4000 posts.

The Forum was started on 21st September 2009 by Leopard Pagan and Highly Jetted joined on 6th of October 2009.

The second Milestone is our 1000th Member - ChongLee. Welcome along ChongLee. When you are ready, perhaps you can introduce yourself on the Forum. Good man.

In these 5 years 9 months I have seen a lot of people come and go - some without ever posting - some with 2 or 3 posts and many, with many more.

So being the curious kind of person I am I have gone through all 20 pages of the Membership List to see how many have never posted at all and those with 5 or less posts. The number of No-Posts is 151. I must admit that I thought that it would have been more. The number with 5 Posts or less is 459!!The Forum has gone very quiet over the last few months, and this time of year it is to be expected as nobody likes having to work on their vehicles in the cold or wet weather unless absolutely necessary.

Certainly since Highly Jetted has moved on to other vehicles, specifically in the Electronics Field of vehicles there has been a lot less activity and Logi has sold his Van, so we have lost, although hopefully not completely, another very valuable contributor.

So we could certainly do with in my opinion a few more members giving some of their input - be it questions or even better some info on what you are doing with your Hi-Jet and some pictures always go down well - A Picture Paints a Thousand Words - well dunno about that, but they can certainly be interesting and informative.

So please help Raggy, PFM, Myself and other Old School members out with a Post or two. I am not so frequently on here myself due to failing health and things that I need to get done on the Hi-Jets I still have. I have just sold a 2002 Dual Fuel Van to a friend and I have almost finished a V reg 1300 van for my Daughter in Law. After that all I have left for breaking for spares are 4 1300 Pickups two of them being Tippers. Two being Dual Fuel.

I have still got a reasonable level of spare parts left in my Store so it is always worth asking if I have got what you need. My Email is thehijetmaniow@gmail.com

Well I don't think that I expended a Thousand Words this morning - but give it a try - if you haven't yet posted let us all know what part of the world you are in, a bit about yourself, and what your Hi-Jet is and your plans for it are, and if possible some pictures. Cheers all you Hi-Jetters.

I'm surprised no-one has replied to your post Woodie. You are one of the mainstays of this forum and without your considerable knowledge and expertise I and many others would be much less wise. And then there's your spares service which is fantastic and another reason why members here should be grateful you participate.

I know you are still recovering from some health set-backs and appreciate you are slowing down a bit but your record of 4000 posts is simply remarkable.

Many thanks for the kind words Biofos.And also from SteveinCornwall, (in the Wanted Section) another previous customer.

Over the past almost 6 years I have helped many many members out with both advice or spares or both. Unfortunately we live in changing times. The days of saying thank you are few and far between. 9 times out of 10 I don't even get a message to acknowledge that the advice I proffered has done the trick or that the parts I have sent have arrived. Just common decency in my book.

But I have slowly learnt to expect nothing in return and be pleasantly pleased when someone has got the kindness to say thank you or the part has arrived and has sorted the problem. The advice they get is for free. I can just see that happening with any Garage especially from the Garages that haven't got a clue about Hi-Jets and hate working on them. Or pay Daihatsu full prices for parts. Just look what has happened to Elfin Girl today and how much it has/will cost her.

Still never mind, I do enjoy helping people out but equally enjoy my English Eloquence and Ascerbic Wit to respond to some of the few "Know-it-alls" who spoil it for the rest of the Forum Members.

Meanwhile I enjoy my last weeks, months, years whatever on the the beautiful Isle of Wight. Can't think of a much nicer place to live and take life easier.

Thank you very much Lex. Your kind words are very much appreciated by me.

Friends on here that say a genuine "Thank you" makes it all worth while. I am certainly not a replacement for Highly Jetted, Matt. His knowledge of things mechanical and especially electronics and EVERTHING Hi-Jet is second to none.

I have got a good knowledge of the interchangeability of parts and differences between the 993cc and the 1300 due to breaking up in excess of 200 Hi-Jets has been a great help. Sometimes Matt has phoned me with questions he wasn't sure about - and I have on numerous occasions supplied him with parts and when he packed up sent me his few remaining Hi-Jet Spares.This Forum is certainly a poorer place without Matt here to help out with his amazing wisdom and knowledge of Hi-Jets.

Thank you both very much for the kind praise. THAT is what makes it all worth while to me.I will check with my Doctor Buttondup and ask him when I am likely to be leaving "This Mortal Coil". Hopefully be for a few years yet. Since August 6th I have been going out on dry mornings around 6am taking photos of the Sunrises and the changing seasons. First of all I was shattered after the first 1/4 mile. Now every dry morning I walk 4 miles and just over to a hamlet called St. Lawrence and then walk back to Whitwell through the 121 years old 1/2 mile Railway Tunnel. The line was closed when I was just 2 years old, but even now 66 years later the Tunnel is in perfect condition. Not one fallen brick from the Ceiling or one stone from the side walls. It is truly amazing. Apart from the massive amounts of rubbish builders have dumped in there. No electricity in there but a tap in there is still live. I have lost 11lbs in weight and am really beginning to get my energy back and my blood pressure is lower than 120/80 and heart rate has come down too. Absolutely love living in Niton. It is a wonderful medication.

It has been in there for many years Lex. I was looking at a poorly lit video taken 3years ago and a few more things have appeared since then, but most of it is what was left by the Company that used it as a Mushroom farm until the 90's. There are about 15 pallets of bags of mushroom compost still shrink wrapped. Miles of polythene and brackets fixed to the wall. Steel wire cable to suspend the polythene to create a tunnel to grow the mushrooms in a humid climate and water pipe and electric cables and switches for heaters. Hundreds of blue plastic Mushroom Trays, all to do with the Mushroom Production.Then there is so much Builders rubbish dumped in there, some new interior doors, still in polythene, radiators, plastic windows, Fibreglass insulation, a Sea-Doo Jet Ski, bicycles, an electric motor bike, 3 wheel barrows, a huge chiller drink bottle fridge, chest freezers, washing machines, a bath, Gas Company plastic portable fences for around holes dug. Loads an loads more rubbish. Vehicular access to either end of the Tunnel is impossible, bad enough on foot. So the larger rubbish has been in there a long time. There is little evidence that anyone has been in there before I started my walks. No signs of brambles or branches cut down until I did for my own safety and no trodden down grass ivy or anything. At the St. Lawrence end the trees on the track have had 66 years of growth. The fir trees are over 70 feet high. I took my Lazer measure and measured them from above on St. Rhadagunds Steps. Along the Undercliffe back towards Niton I measured the trees there from the Cripple Path and they are well over 100ft High. The Niton Undercliffe area is just amazing countryside.Raggy said that he would like to go through the Tunnel when he comes down again in the Spring. I don't think that much will have changed by the time he comes down.

So you squashed that tick already? Showing off your walking skills like that almost makes me feel guilty for growing a sack under my chin.

Is royal mail being delivered by the queen herself? My damn new tailgate struts are due to leave Nottingham Mail Centre to go to Heathrow Worldwide Distribution Centre for a week now. What's going on with the mail around there? I ordered a pair for my L300 (from Bulgaria) at the same day and they already arrived two days ago.

Sounds more like the Vendor taking their time. Although I guess you will have Tracking Details to confirm that.

I have sent a few parcels to Scotia and they have arrived in 2-4 days. I sent a parcel to Harry Temorche who lives about 20km from Scotia and that arrived in 3 days. A Stainless Exhaust System I sent Scotia arrived in 4-5 days and that bearing in mind has got to go from the Isle of Wight first.

So for your lightweight parcel to still to be stuck in the UK seems a bit strange. Were they new ones or used ones off Ebay??

Bought them from a web shop that sells new Hijet struts (www.sgs-engineering.com around 70 delivered to NL) but according to the tracking they left the UK this morning 5AM, so I'm unstressed again. Guess they got stuck in the machine for a week there. They were not held by the sender, the tracking showed they were already in possession of the Royals.

-edit- By the way, do you know if there are beefier leaf springs available for the S85 van? I don't know how they are supposed to look exactly, but mine look a little straight, not really elliptical like the new ones found on the web... Might want to change them, especially if there are tougher ones available...

Woodie - TOP-MAN has saved my bacon (camper) again. Yesterday I was not paying attention / suffering brain fade. I drove into a flooded bit of road at about 50mph (80 Kliks) The engine stayed running but was noisy - blowing exhaust noise. Today up on the lift the flange front pipe to manifold has ripped the old spring gasket falling out in burnt bits.Xmas how do I afford a new exhaust? Woodie is sending me a bit of pipe with flange so I can cobble it together. Thanks Woodie:cheers:Jon

You've missed one out Lex!! THREE. The Boer War - 1899 to 1902. And my Medals.

Fortunately for Jon I had cut up three Cataclysmic Pervertors and a very good Diesel exhaust system too and saved them for " One day I MIGHT need them" as Jackdaws do - but instead Jon needs some of the bits.

The bits are all cleaned up and packaged ready for posting this morning to Helston.

Just gone back through your post Lex about the weak rear leaf springs. There is an easy way to sort that out. Use the Pickup springs. The leaves are thicker and stronger. But you can't use the metal channel with the rubber isolation as the Pickup springs are thicker.

The ones in the picture are Electric Porter Pickup Springs - the highest rated ones, as it has 16 12volt Batteries right at the back - before you have your half tonne payload. They are going on the back of my MPV.

Because of the lack of the rubber Isolation Pads the ride is harsher but it will give you a better payload and better handling - reducing body roll.

Cheers Raggy and Lex. The Pickup springs are a direct replacement fit Lex - apart from the removal of the Metal spacer that holds the two Isolation Rubbers and the rubbers themselves. So it is metal on metal basically - the way the Pickup springs are mounted on the Rear Axle.

Absolutely no Mot problems. Even a Daihatsu mechanic wouldn't notice the lack of the Isolators. The Pickup springs have more of a curve to them than the Van ones and so will look shorter - but they are a direct replacement. No ACTUAL DIFFERENCE in overall length when compressed to the same arc as the Van Spring.

As regards part numbers etc I wouldn't have a clue Lex. Only new genuine parts I have ever bought were all the New Alloy wheels of 3 different styles. Only things new I have bought are Spark Plugs, Air and Oil Filters, Cambelts, Alternator belts, Thermostats etc. I have always had a supply of used useful parts in stock - until the fire.

However much new Springs will be I really don't know particularly in the Netherlands. I have still got 3 Pickups to break if you wanted used ones--but they are very heavy and I don't know what carriage costs will be. I would look at the price of new ones and carriage first before making any decisions.Also with Non-Genuine springs, I don't know if they are supplied with a new Metalastic Front Bush too.